Why Steve Lonegan is the right man for the job of governor of New Jersey.
Mayor Steve Lonegan is the most conservative candidate I have seen for any political position in my nearly 20 years of following politics (although the last 10 years is when I started following it much more closely). There are few politicians who are conservative and don't dance around it to try to gain voters. They speak conservatism and win voters on ideas, not tricking them into voting for them by playing games with their words.
Here are 4 points that Lonegan has not been afraid to stick with, despite the criticism from fellow "conservative" Chris Christie, which shows everyone who the true conservative is, and who the politician is.
- A flat tax. Let me say it again. A FLAT tax. Sure, some people who aren't paying taxes now will pay a little more, but what is going on when some people aren't paying taxes at all? If they don't have any money in the game, they won't care how wasteful Trenton is with OPM (Other People's Money).
- No corporate or small business taxes. In the end, the employee pays this with lower wages or the consumer in higher prices. Let's cut the levels of taxation. There's no need for that many.
- School funding is another area that needs to change. Why can suburban town educate better than the cities for significantly less money per student. If the suburbs can do it for less, so can the cities; they just choose not to. When the city sees money flowing out of their school systems to provide a better education in a charter school, maybe they'll find out how to do more with less.
- Property taxes, and the rebates in particular, are a joke. Le me take thousands of your hard earned dollars, waste most of it, and whatever I didn't get a chance to squander, I'll return. This is a feel-good measure timed close to elections to make you think Trenton is working for you. Don't be fooled, if they were really working for you, they would have only taken what they needed in the first place. Let me keep the rest so I have it when I need it.
Well, my thumbs are tiring out, so I'll end this mobile blog here. Think about this when you vote in the primaries tomorrow. And remember, now is always the best time to start doing things the right way.
- Clinton
Labels: Chris Christie, Christie, Governor, Gubernatorial Primary, Lonegan, New Jersey, NJ, NJ Primary, Steve Lonegan
11 Comments:
Clinton, city schools tend to spend less on their students, because of the lack of resources they have. Surburban schools typically are way wealtheir than city schools, which means they spend A LOT more on their students.
Suburban schools have more resources because of having more money...because of property taxes. So much of the property taxes that would be going to city schools aren't because so much of the city is tax free...museums, etc.
I think its important we invest more into our city schools...its time to stop playing into the institutionalized racism that unfortunatly continues to plague our inner city students.
Read Savage Inequalities. Goes into the inequalities within our school systems.....
-Nikki
By
Nicole1919, at June 2, 2009 at 11:13 AM
If city schools are so poor in their effort to educate, they why not be in favor of a governor who wants to provide vouchers to parents of the children in those failing schools so that they can have a much better education from a private school. Since competeition breeds innovation and better results, wouldn't it be better to have schools competing for education dollars. The schools provide a better education, parents with kids in failing schools get to now send their kids to private schools with much better track records, the public schools now have smaller class sizes where learning may improve. i dont see how anyone can be opposed to a system with only benefits, no downside. it seems like a win-win-win for everyone involved. Don't you agree???
By
Clinton, at June 2, 2009 at 11:21 AM
First of all, I am not a NJ resident so I will not be voting. Second of all, I am a tree hugging liberal so I don't agree with anything that this guy is advocating for.
So, competition is better, right? Lets children strive to be better, get better educations, go farther. The schools are not failing...WE are failing the schools. Schools shouldnt have to compete for education dollars....education is a basic human right and all children deserve equal access to a good education. shipping some kids to private schools will not fix the problem. We need to invest more money in our school systems...
It seems like a win-win situation when you glance at the problem and come up with a quick solution....but these inner city kids are worth more than a quick fix. We need an education reform where ALL students get a good education...from resources to teachers to class sizes to everything...
By
Nicole1919, at June 2, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Here is a link at how New Jersey can't even be fail with it's public schools in the same district. Charter schools in the same district as their more popular public schools cant get funded to the amount specified by law, even though a charter school is still a public school. It trenton cant even get their own public schools straightened out, how will they ever be able to fix the educational system as a whole. here are public charter schools doing a much better job educating the people, with only 2/3rd of the funding there are suposed to have, and they are still turning out better results. yet in all of that, they are not being paid per student what the law entitles them to. Why wouldn't someone continue to fund a school that is working better, in favor of the schools that are failing. this is also proof positive that more money doesnt equal better results. some of these schools are getting a less that 65% of their larger counterparts in $/student while still turning out a better educated student. again, more money does NOT equal better results.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2009/05/new_jersey_continues_shortchan.html
By
Clinton, at June 2, 2009 at 12:58 PM
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2009/05/new_jersey_continues_shortchan.htmlHere's a link.
By
Clinton, at June 2, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Charter schools are always smaller than other public schools. They have WAY less restiriction on what they can and cannot do as opposed to other public schools. Resources, class size, etc. are allocated differently because of less restriction/smaller size.
Give public school systems less restriction/smaller class sizes/better qualified teachers and then see what happens. Money=resources. Charter schools STILL receive more money than most inner city schools (relative to student population size.)
There is no simple, quick fix answer to better our public education system as we currently know it. Giving some people vouchers to ship their children to outside schools will not help those kids who are left in the neighborhood schools.
By
Nicole1919, at June 2, 2009 at 1:18 PM
These schools are receiving LESS than their counterparts in the same district. Receiving Less=Better results is what you can gain from this article. They are not WASTING money on non-education things. And by doing fundraisers to help in the cost of education, the students and their families can feel like they are part of the system, helping in the education of their kids. When you don’t have anything in the game, like those who go to public schools, it is harder to be appreciative of it, and to put the effort in to making it better. The families who are choosing to go to these public charter schools are choosing to be involved in their kid’s lives and education. This is where the real learning improvements are coming from; parents who are there to help and there to push the kids to do better. Give a school $1 million per student, and if there isn't someone at home there to push them to do better, they won’t do better.
As far as giving them fewer restrictions, where do you think these restrictions came from. GOVERNMENT! Not the parents and not the students. You are proving my point more and more that the government is the source of the problem, not the solution to the problem. It would seem to me that where there is less government intervention, like private schools, there is the best education. Then comes charter schools, where they are still public in their funding, but have greater freedom; and then comes the normal public school, where they are under the complete control of politicians who don’t have the kid’s best interest in mind.
You are right that there are no easy solutions to FIX everything, but there are some things we can do that are easy to get us moving in the right direction. One of which is getting kids out of failing schools and into schools that serve the best interest of the child. Can you site an instance where a failing school was fixed by more money? I know new schools who take over kids in failing schools help turn failing kids into passing kids, but I don’t see any evidence that more money to a failing school gives us anything more than a more expensive failing school.
By
Clinton, at June 2, 2009 at 1:40 PM
I know they are recieving less...i didnt say they werent. But they have less restriction/less STUDENTS and the ability to do certain things that other public schools arent.
As for involving the families more in the system than other public schools....i have a few things to say...
I went to public school...as did my entire family/most of my friends..and luckily, the piblic schools i have gone to have all been resource rich, which comes from money....and that money is from property tax. resources does equal better education....money=resources. Being in a public school that has funds to go on feild trips, have biology labs, have an abundance of books in the library, has well paid teachers who are enthusiastic about teaching...it can make a heck of a difference in how a student will learn. I agree that it is important to have somebody at home who wants their child to have a good education as well....but thats where the institutionalized racism/cycle of poverty comes into play. If you don't show children that they deserve a good education and are worth something (resources, etc.) then why would they push themselves? If nobody cared about your education...including your educators...don't you think it would be hard to push yourself? When nobody has high expectations for you??
Now, I don't even want to get started on government. You argue against government for this point...but god forbid we would disucss other issues...then you would want the government to step in/make issues illegal/legal and what not. So, I won't voice my opinion on that.....less is more in some cases and more is less in others? doesn't make sense.
Investing more in all schools will benefit all of us tremendously. Educated students means college students means career oriented people. If we let the "failing" schools keep failing...then we will forever be plagued with uneducated people...and whose fault is that but our own society's?
By
Nicole1919, at June 2, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Any kid who needs the government to tell them their worth is doomed to fail. The parent's instill worth in their children long before the school system gets a chance to.
I have heard the way some of these parents talk to their kids when I am out shopping. The mouth they use and their attitude towards their kids will do far more damage to their self esteem that and teacher could ever do. And there is no amount of praise a teacher can give to overcome these living conditions at home. The cycle of poverty that you speak of is more perpetuated by the parent’s view of life and morality than the “institutional racism” that doesn’t really exist. I would love nothing more than to see everyone be raised in a home with a loving mother and a father, where they are told to work hard if you want to succeed, obey the law and stay out of jail, don’t have sex or children before you are married. By simply following these simple guidelines, you can’t help but improve your life over the lives of the previous generation. But instead, you have an abundance of broken homes in the inner cities, a huge percentage of children are born out of wedlock, with absent fathers, and mothers who can’t be as supportive as they would want to be since they are buys being the sole provider for these unfortunate children. How can they give the kids the care and attention that I know my kids need, if they are working long hours to pay for their needs and too tired after working to interact because of their workday totally drains them physically and emotionally?
And for the Government intervention note, there is not much I think the government is good for. Their sole purpose as directed by the constitution is the protection of its people. They are not there to help us in any other way, but rather directed by the constitution to STAY OUT OF OUR WAY. That is what made us a free country. The more laws they pass, the more they are in our way. Ronald Reagan had it right when he said “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”.
By
Clinton, at June 2, 2009 at 2:40 PM
We might just have to agree to disagree on this topic, and actually, most topics..but, I enjoy respectfully exchanging differences in opinions so I will share mine...
I did not say the government is solely respnonsible for giving children worth, but keep in mind, our children spend more time within the school system than with their parents for 3/4 of the year..If a teacher were to tell any one of your children that they are going to fail, how would you feel? If one of your kids was put into a classroom with a teacher who was not qualified to teach, or who wasn't enthusiastic about teaching children, how would you feel? Our teachers work for us and for our children and for our future. So it is imperative that they instill worth into our kids, alongside their parents, alongside mainstream society.....we are products of our environment and our environment is not limited to home.
As for the cycle of poverty and institutionalized racism, which indeed is a VERY large problem in the US....why do inner cities have all of the problems they do? Why are most inner cities home to minority groups? It just happened that way....I dont think so. Why do we stick waste management sites and nuclear warehouses in black neighborhoods? It doesnt magically happen.
I agree that I like to see children raised in a home with stable parents (mother, father, 2 moms or 2 dads or loving grandparents..) You think it is easy to tell a high school kid to work hard in order to succeed when the past 5 generations of his/her family has not been able to succeed? I think theres a fine line between society holding people down and people holding themselves down. I agree that we all should work hard, and that if we do...we should succeed. But in a school where the drop out rate is 75%...it is a bit harder to do so.
As for the government, I think its funny that you think they should leave us the heck alone. I think they should leave us the heck alone as well, when it comes to abortion....gay marriage....all the things I know you wish the government would step in for....
By
Nicole1919, at June 2, 2009 at 2:58 PM
I have got a real kick out of reading your debate Clinton and Nikki. As a product of multiple broken homes, alcoholic family members, an abusive husband to just name a few "bumps in the road"...thank god I had people who educated me that offered me some feelings of self worth since I wasn't getting that in my family home. Thank god also that I came from a family that had abundant monetary resources that provided me with experiences that made me realize I "could possibly" make some good choices and made me realize my screwed up family was not the only way. I was also white, living in a white neighborhood. That certainly helped.
When our views become so narrow that all the idealistic feelings overshadow the real realities of realizing even the lives of the people we love and socialize with have been shaped a myriad of ways...it's time to take a better look. All children should, but don't have a right to an equal education. The minorities and the handicapped of this world are not throwaways. I could go on and on, but at my age, I realize people have differing opinions AND can continue to admire and love what they bring to the table. I think you should read the book and perhaps one day go into Philly, where Juliet had to do some field work before becoming a teacher and experience first hand the neighborhoods and the schools that the inner city kids have to go to. God help the little children who had no choice who to be born to...but there is a plan for everything, right? Perhaps the plan is for the fortunate to lobby for the less fortunate. Love ya.
By
Unknown, at June 2, 2009 at 9:33 PM
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